A simple classic French mixed green salad with bacon rashers, croûtons and egg, also known as the breakfast salad, that we teach in one of our french cooking classes at Wickedfood Cooking School . The secret of this dish is to make it in the last moment and serve immediately.

1 clove garlic, cut in half

Oil for frying

4 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into 1cm cubes

¹/4 cup olive oil

2 spring onions, chopped

4 rashers bacon, cut into thin strips

¹/3 cup red wine vinegar

1T whole grain mustard

1 large packet mixed lettuce leaves

1T vinegar

4-6 eggs

1. Rub the base of a pan well with garlic. Just cover with oil, heat and fry the bread cubes until golden. Drain well on paper towel.
2. Wipe the pan clean, add the olive oil, heat to medium, and cook the spring onion and bacon for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the vinegar and mustard, bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce by about a third.
4. Place the lettuce leaves in a large bowl, pour the hot liquid over and toss. Divide among plates or place in a large salad bowl.
5. Bring 4 cups of water, together with 1T vinegar to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and poach the eggs, one at a time in the liquid, lifting out with a slotted spoon.
6. Arrange the eggs on top of the salad and garnish with the croûtons.  Serve immediately

Serves 4 to 6

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studios. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Muffins are easy to make. Remember the secret of making great muffins is in the mixing, – they should be mixed as little as possible. Do not worry if the mixture is lumpy.

150g (2 small) soft bananas, mashed,
1/4 cup poppy seeds,
12 paper muffin cups,
125g soft butter,
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
Pinch salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk or 3/4 cup (185ml) milk

12 paper muffin cups

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the paper muffin cups and place into a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs.
3. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the coconut and buttermilk.
4. Fold in the mashed banana and poppy seeds (or apricots and bran).
5. Fold in the butter/sugar/egg mixture until just mixed (see introduction).
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan 3/4 full, and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested.

Makes ±12 of each

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking school runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studios. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

While working in the United Kingdom as a breakfast chef, one of our instructors at Wickedfood Cooking School cooked breakfast for Cameron Diaz. This is the recipe that he used, and we also teach in one of our breakfast team building cooking classes.

Hollandaise sauce
150ml dry white wine
225ml white wine vinegar
15 whole black peppercorns
1 small red onion roughly chopped
250g unsalted butter
3 free-range egg yolks

Eggs Benedict
white wine vinegar
4 very fresh free-range eggs
2 English muffins, sliced in half, toasted
4 slices ham, such as York ham

Hollandaise sauce

• Place the white wine, white wine vinegar, black peppercorns and sliced onion into a heavy-based pan (not aluminium) over a high heat.
• Bring to the boil and reduce the liquid in the pan to half its original volume, about 15 minutes. (This will make more reduction than you’ll need for this recipe. Store the in the fridge for up to a month.)
• While the white wine and vinegar mixture is reducing, place the butter in a small heavy-bottomed pan and melt over a low heat.
• When the butter has melted, using a spoon, skim the white foamy bits (milk solids) from the surface of the butter. Remove the clarified butter from the heat and allow to cool to body temperature.
• Place a clean glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.
• Place the egg yolks in the bowl set over the pan of water and whisk. Add about 1T of the strained vinegar and shallot reduction. Whisk the egg yolk mixture vigorously and constantly for about five minutes, until the mixture turns foamy and then thickens.
• The mixture is ready when the mixture falls from the whisk in strands that rest for a second or two on the surface before settling back into the egg mixture.
• Remove the egg mixture from the heat. Pour a small amount of the body-temperature clarified butter into the egg mixture and whisk vigorously until the butter is completely incorporated. Gradually add the rest of the clarified butter to the egg mixture, bit by bit, whisking in all the butter until a smooth, thick, emulsified sauce is formed.
• If you work slowly and if the ingredients are all of the same temperature, the sauce shouldn’t split. If it splits, it’s either too hot or too cold. If it’s too cold (feels cool to the touch), warm the butter up and whisk in the warmed butter, which should re-emulsify the sauce. If it’s too hot (feels very warm to the touch), drop an ice cube into the sauce and whisk again to re-emulsify. Once properly emulsified, the sauce will remain stable, giving you time to prepare the rest of the dish.

How to poach eggs

• Fill a tall pan with water. Bring to the boil and add 3T of white wine vinegar per 500ml of water. Make a ‘whirlpool’ in the pan by swirling a slotted spoon around the outside edge of the pan. Carefully crack the eggs into the pan, in the centre of the whirlpool.
• Poach the eggs until the whites are firm but there’s still movement in the yolk – they’ll feel firm to the touch when ready.

To serve

• Place half a muffin on each plate. Top with a slice of ham, the other muffin half and another slice of ham. Carefully remove the poached eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon and place 2 on top of the ham. Spoon the hollandaise sauce on top and around the muffins and serve immediately.

Serves 2

Tip: Eggs Benedict has layers of breakfast muffin, ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. To make Eggs Florentine replace the ham with fried/blanched spinach, and to make Eggs Royal replace the ham with smoked salmon.

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Q: My pancakes seem to come out a bit chewy rather than soft and fluffy. Can you make any suggestions

A: Wickedfood Cooking School uses the following recipe in our teambuilding cooking classes, which is simple and easy to make and doesn’t require you to leave it over night as most recipes call for.

110g plain flour (not quite 1 cup)
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
§135ml milk
135ml water
2T melted butter
1t sugar
Oil for frying

1. Sieve flour and salt from high (to air) into large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the center and break the eggs into the well, now start to beat eggs, drawing flour from the edges, and start to add the liquid gradually.
3. Ensure you have combined all flour with the liquid then whisk once more till it is smooth and has a consistency of thin cream (add more milk if needed)  and allow to rest for ± 30 minutes.
4. Heat a small nonstick frying pan until hot (but not smoking) and add ±2T oil.
5. Wipe away the excess oil with a piece of paper towel and then keep to one side as you will need it to  grease the pan in between pancakes.
6. Switch you pan down to a medium heat and pour just enough batter to line the base of your pan.
7. Once the pancake begins to left around the edges it can be flipped over and cooked on the other side 30 sec-1min (dont over cook as this will cause the pancakes to crack).
8. turn out the pan and grease with paper towel and repeat steps 6 and 7
9. once ready pancakes can be eating with any filling you like or stack them with a piece of grease-proof paper in between each layer and allow to cool and freeze

Tip: For the best results use a non-stick teflon coated pan that has short side walls.

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood cooking school runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.